REVIEW: Cinderella – Keighley Musical Theatre Company

CINDERELLA is a nostalgic show for me as it marked my last panto appearance in Britain before I scarpered to the footlights of Vancouver.

I played one of the two staggeringly ugly sisters whose every entrance onto the stage was marked by a rendition of Who Let The Dogs Out by the Baha Men. I spent six months in therapy after my humiliation!

No such therapy needed after my visit to Victoria Hall last Saturday when KMTC put on a masterful production of the pantomime they first did in 1969.

The show had everything. Great sets; fabulous costumes; terrific music; wonderful dancing; super songs; pretty girls; baddies; goodies; and the boy gets the girl in the end, as if you didn't already know.

James Windle held the the show together as an excellent Buttons, and I particularly liked Leanne Watson's Cinderella and Baron Hardup in the form of Jonny Tate who could easily have doubled for Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours.

But the rest of the cast were excellent, and once again the choreography was near perfect and some of the dancing was mesmerising.

The orchestra put in a good shift as well under Geoff Garrett's leadership, and the whole production should the vigour and enthusiasm which are becoming KMTC's hallmarks.

The high spot for me was Queen's It's a Kind of Magic which brought Act On to a close, and I think that if he had been there, Lord Byron, who apparently wrote the pantomime, would have nudged Lady Hamilton and said “It's a great show, what?”.

I agree with him, it was a great show.

Martin Carr